The Best Wall Anchors I’ve Ever Used

You know how regular toggle bolt wall anchors always require extra space behind the drywall, and to remove you unscrew them, dropping the toggle behind the wall? This week I found the best toggles I’ve ever used — SnapToggles, made by Toggler. They’re much easier to install, and they stay in place when you unscrew the bolt.

They’re odd-looking, which probably explains why at Lowe’s I found a box opened and a few scattered around the wall anchor area. While traditional toggle bolt anchors consist of a single bolt with “wings” at one end that pop open after being pushed through the wall, the SnapToggle’s two parallel plastic straps tee into a single bar-shaped anchor. The straps can move up or down independently, see-sawing the anchor to form an “I” or a “T” as needed. To install, simply push the toggle long-wise through the hole you drilled (generally a half inch, or about what you use for a medium-to-large standard toggle), then line up the straps to flip the toggle 90 degrees. Next, push the cap along the straps, zip-tie style, until the toggle lies flush behind the wall, and pull the toggle tight with the straps. Finally, just break off the straps flush with the cap. The cap and toggle stay in place, allowing you to install the bolt whenever you like.

This offers a couple of advantages over the classic toggle. Obviously, you can remove the bolt and re-install it, so you can easily remove whatever you attached to the wall without having to start over. It’s also possible to easily install other bolts of the same thread pattern. For example, this week I was installing Hungarian-style shelves to hold media equipment, so I needed to attach some 2x6s to the wall. The 2.5″ bolts that came with the kit weren’t going to work, so I picked up some 4″ bolts from the next aisle over and used them instead. Hell, if you really wanted to, you could even remove whatever you attached to the wall the first time and install something else in the same holes with different bolts. They install extremely fast, as well — it took me a minute or two to install 20 of them.

Toggler offers these in a variety of bolt sizes ranging from 3/16″ (24 thread, rated to hold 238 pounds in 1/2″ drywall) up to 1/2″ (13 thread, rated for 275 pounds in 1/2″ drywall). Pricing varies based on size and quantity, but you should expect to find two-packs and 30-packs in your local big box. (We’ve seen them online in 50-packs, too, so YMMV.) We paid around $22 for a 30-pack of 3/16″ anchors.

I’m definitely a fan. But hey, if you like something else better, let us know in comments. We’re always looking for the best parts like this. And I’ve got a ton of projects in the queue around the house, too, so I’m sure I’ll need some more before I’m done.

When I’ve needed to get rid of the anchor, I haven’t worried about removing it from the wall. I used diagonal wire cutters to snip off the cap and let the toggle part fall into the wall, just as you would with a standard toggle. Patch the hole and you’re done.

I discovered these when I ordered a new pot rack a while back and the hardware pack included some of these to anchor the bolts to hang the rack. I fell in love with them and have used them for everything since.

I found these probably 8 years ago when hanging some old fashioned TV shelves and have loved them ever since. Another advantage you don’t mention is that if you’re hanging something that requires multiple anchors, you don’t have to try and line up/insert multiple toggles at the same time.
One problem I’ve found recently is that the threads aren’t always cut cleanly, so now I thread a bolt in and out before inserting the anchor. I found that problem when installing some into metal studs and the bolt turned the anchor which caused the burr on the metal to cut through the plastic straps. I lost several toggles before I realized what was going on.

The E-Z anchors are only good for light duty stuff where you don’t “touch” the item you are mounting. They cannot tolerate any movement, like on towel bars, shower curtain rods, drapery hooks, etc. I am currently replacing lots of these with real anchors, like the ones in this article

You are mistaken, OR, you are using the “new” plastic E-Z Anchors, OR the new shorter ones.

I used the original metal 1.75″ long X 0.5″ wide (at the opening) E-Z Anchors to hang SOLID RED OAK shelves ~4 ft to 6 ft long and 6+ shelves on standards to 8 ft ceilings. I used 3 or 4 standards per rack of shelves and expected them to hold 500 to 1,000 pounds. The E-Z Anchors did this easily. They are simple to install, easy to line up multiple 6 ft verticle strip standards, and easy to line up all the shelves and brackets. It took me forever to line up shelves and standards when I used toggle bolts on plaster walls. Each bolt had to be cut to exact size when the old plaster walls were bowed and inserting 8 or more toggle bolts into a single long standard where all the bolts must be short enough to allow for complete bolt opening – and you get ONE CHANCE to make the insertion properly the first time, etc……

I’m now trying to find somewhere that still sells these old E-Z Anchors. Copies are never as good as the originals.

No you are mistaken. You put a shelf up and the original poster says it does not work well when you pull or turn on them like towel and paper towel holders. These are firm for awhile but eventually soften up. A shelf isn’t getting torque’d on. Absorb what you read instead of wanting to hear only what matters to you!!

People keep confusing heavy loads versus heavy duty use. I don’t care if something can hold a heavy shelf. AS soon as you have something that requires strength from keeping it from turning or pulling straight out of a wall, instead of the downward force, that is when 99% of the anchors fail over time. Single bar towel holders are notorious for weakening up with EZ anchors no matter the type. They can’t handle the rotation in drywall. That’s why these toggles are getting rave reviews. I love hearing all these construction guys wanting to defend their own product, but the failure rate after a few years is so high on heavy duty use and why i will never use an EZ anchor again nor any other type of wall anchor. I can easily do a nice patch job on a hole. Most contractors just install and have no idea the fail rate on their work.

I liked these, but ran into a problem putting them into a wall that had been heavily insulated with fiberglass batts – the toggle wasn’t able to expand, and with my attempts at manipulating it I managed to snap the plastic bits off and had to discard the anchor.

Anyway, this happened a few times and I ended up needing another hardware store run to get some more in order to finish mounting the set of cabinets I was putting up. With all that having been said, I’d still use them again for anything needing significant load.

Walldogs and EZ-Anchors are in a different category. Personally the walldogs are the worst. They never seem to hold tight and strip out the rock if you put to much pressure on them. EZ-Anchors are great for light loads. Our preferred light duty anchor.

For heavy duty all we use are snap toggles if we are forced to mount to drywall. We even use them if mounting to plywood or steel plates behind drywall.

A little vector diagram will show how the load on an anchor will impact its ability to work effectively. A heavy – but thin mirror will apply in mostly downward (shear) force to the anchor. A shelf – especially wider ones that are loaded near their outer edge – will apply much more pull-out force on the anchor. Finally something like a grab bar in a bathtub – can apply lots of pull-out force as it is used to help someone out of a tub. In the last case – we’ve found that no hollow-wall anchor is up to the job – and for new construction we recommend tub enclosures that start with ¾ inch plywood over the studs as a point to anchor grab bars.

These are the beat hollow wall anchors for heavy loads no doublt. Very installer friendly.
In fact all of the Toggler brand anchors I have used have been my favorites. The alligators are great for masonry and light hollow wall use. The togglers are slightly better light duty hollow wall use also. They aren’t as versatile as alligators so I usually don’t bother with them.

Another plus is the initial hole is smaller than with traditional toggle bolts. When I was doing professional AV work we always kept a few boxes in the van. Occasionally you’ll get one with bad threads or stubborn zip mechanism. Overall a great product.

Tried em all, togglers are the hardest plastic and
toughest holding anchors.
Use alligators for general use and toggler anchor for drywall. Tiles over drywall use the alligators.
For heavy jobs use snaptoggle metal anchors.
Never had one fail me once installed properly.
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Question to those who have used these in the past. I’m looking for an anchor that will allow to be used over and over. Meaning, i want to install a bracket on the outside of an RV but remove the bracket each time I travel to next location. Will the toggle stay in the wall if I remove the bolt until I get to my next location? Or maybe put the bolt back in once bracket is removed until next use? Will it hold up to this continued use do you think?

Whatever the final ruling on spacing is, no one should be pressing the spacebar twice after a sentence. That’s what formatting your word processor is for. Either way, take the manual work out of it and let the computers do it for us.

I’ve been using them in plaster over gypsum block. The block has 1.75″ diameter tubular channels running horizontally, which is too small to allow the standard sized 2″ SnapToggle to expand. I use a hacksaw to cut the toggle down to 1.5″, and that works. It’s not emphasized in the directions, but it’s important to install the toggle vertically if you’re expecting a heavy vertical radial load like a large shelf or a bathtub grab bar. I’m using them to install heavy duty monitor arms, which apply both horizontal and vertical radial loads, so I install the toggles at a 45 degree (2 o’clock & 8 o’clock) angle.

I do grab bar installations & use these togglers when ever possible. One per each end gives me a rating of over 450+ lbs. In some cases the distance between the drywall & an adjacent wall or obstruction behind the wall isn’t deep enough to flip the anchor. In these cases, I’ll trim the anchor and use two at each end. For fiberglass tub surrounds however, my first choice is the Moen Secure mount system. Here too you may have to occasionally MacGyver a solution because of the lack of space. But that’s for another discussion.